• Adam Yates helps Simon stay in overall lead, now by 25sec
Simon Yates described twin brother Adam as his “secret weapon” after a battling display in the Basque Country saw the British rider’s Vuelta a España lead trimmed in in Wednesday’s 17th stage.
Canada’s Michael Woods won in the mist on Balcon de Bizkaia, seeing off the challenge of Dylan Teuns, but it was the overall classification battle that caught the attention as Yates lost contact with his chief rival, Alejandro Valverde, on the final ramps of the brutal concluding climb, eventually ceding eight seconds to the Spaniard. That meant the 26-year-old – who saw his lead in the Giro d’Italia earlier this year overturned during a dramatic 19th stage on which Chris Froome took control of the race – leads by 25 seconds going into the final four stages and he admitted it could have been even closer had it not been for the efforts of his brother and the rest of his Mitchelton-Scott teammates.
Written by Guardian Sport
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/sep/12/simon-yates-holds-firm-brutal-final-climb-retain-vuelta-espana-lead-alejandro-valverde-cycling under the title “Simon Yates thanks ‘secret weapon’ brother after retaining Vuelta lead”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
